Aston Villa captain Fabian Delph is on the verge of a move to Manchester City just six months after signing a lengthy contract extension.

Villa had been expecting a bid for the 25-year-old, who did not travel to the club's training camp in Portugal on Thursday, all week.

It seems City have triggered an £8m release clause included when Delph signed a new four-and-half-year deal in January.

City are keen to boost their home-grown quota following the loss of James Milner to Liverpool and Frank Lampard to New York City and Delph has been on Manuel Pellegrini's radar for some time.

The squad are in Australia for the start of their pre-season preparations and Delph is expected to join them once the deal is completed.

They are also monitoring Raheem Sterling, who returned to training yesterday after two days' absence with illness. As it stands Liverpool expect Sterling to be on the flight to Thailand tomorrow for a pre-season tour.